Chapter 462: Building a City in the Big Lake

The Yibohai in July is the most charming season. It has taken the lead in getting out of midsummer. The heat has disappeared. Summer is like an exhausted traveler, lying dying among the low mountains. The lakeside is full of autumn, with endless cedar forests and thick grass mats, and the herdsmen's flocks grazing peacefully on the grassland.

On this day, the sky was clear and a few white clouds were floating faintly. A fleet sailed from afar, stretching for dozens of miles on this calm and sleepy lake. It was composed of more than 300 three-masted ships, loaded with food and various military supplies. The huge sails were bulging into a ball and sailing eastward through the wind and waves. The big ship led was planted with a red and yellow Tang dragon flag, flirting in the wind.

Wang Siyu stood at the bow of the boat and stared at the boundless and sea-like lake surface. From time to time, huge strange fish jumped up from the water surface and fell heavily into the lake, as if protesting the arrival of these uninvited guests who disrupted the tranquility of Yibohai.

Yibohai is a narrow and long lake with a long east-west and narrow north-south, with a vast area, equivalent to four Qinghai Lakes. Its biggest feature is that half of the lake water is salty and half light, and there is a peninsula extending into the lake in the middle, which divides the lake water into two parts, and there is only a narrow waterway that is six or seven miles wide in the middle. It is this waterway that divides the lake water into two, with a fresh water to the west and salt water to the east. One of the military cities of the Tang army will be built on this peninsula, called Dahucheng.

Wang Siyu came to inspect the construction progress of Dahu City. According to the arrangements of the emperor and the court, the Tang army of Shuye will build three military cities around Yibohai. Two have started construction, one is on the north side of Yibohai, called Yibocheng, and the other is built on the Dahu Peninsula, called Dahu City. The two cities are built opposite each other, less than ten miles apart, and they just blocked the Yibo Strait, one south and one north. These two cities will each garrison 3,000 troops, responsible for intercepting the caravan leading to the Uighurs.

"Master, look!" A soldier pointed to the distance and shouted. Wang Siyu's hand curtain blocked the dazzling sunlight. Looking around, he saw a long black shadow appearing in the distance, where the Yibo Peninsula was.

The Dahu City began to be built in April. It is about 600 miles from the east bank of the lake controlled by the Uighurs, and to the south is an endless desert, which was the territory of the Western Turks. In the second year of Xianqing, the Tang general Su Dingfang defeated the Western Turks. The Yibohai basin officially belonged to the territory of the Tang Dynasty and was under the jurisdiction of the Beiting Protectorate. After the Battle of Talas, the Tang army withdrew from the west of the Pamir Mountains, and the Yibohai basin was also occupied by the Gelulu people. The Uighur also expanded west to the east of the Yibohai. Until today, with the demise of Gelulu and the victory of the Saiye Battle, the forces of the Tang Dynasty once again advanced westward, and the vast territory east of Yaoshaoshui became the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty also changed its former rule method and achieved actual control over the vast territory by establishing the army town. From April, after Saiye officially became the seat of the Western Regions Protectorate, the Tang Dynasty established the Dayuan Governor's Office in Shiguo and Bahanna and other countries. The veteran general Ma Lin was appointed as the governor of Dayuan and Wu Yuanheng was appointed as the chief secretary, and ten military towns were under its jurisdiction, such as Talas Army Town, Ju Zhanti Jun Town, Baishui City Army Town, Zhenzhu City Army Town, and even the northernmost Xihai City Army Town (Xihai is today's Aral Sea). As well as the troops garrisoned in Shiguo's capitals Tuozhe City and Bahanna City Chengsei City, there were more than 20,000 people, firmly controlling the vast territory west of Saiye.

The fleet slowly moved closer to the dock. The dock was located in the middle of the Dahu Peninsula. It was surrounded by land on three sides. It was a natural harbor. Dahu City was built next to this harbor. Dahu City was located on a hill, about seven or eight miles from the top of the lake and about five miles from the mainland. It was covered with dense cedar forests. At present, Yibo City on the other side has been repaired, and Dahu City has not yet been completed. Nearly a thousand engineers rushed to work day and night to strive to build a good city before winter came.

The arrival of the fleet attracted a jubilation. The soldiers on the dock docked large ships to the shore one by one. Hundreds of soldiers ran down from the top of the mountain to prepare to carry supplies. Wang Siyu got on the shore, looked at both sides, and then asked: "Where is General Shi, why didn't he come to greet me?"

Half a month ago, Wang Siyu appointed Shi Yang as the military envoy of Dahucheng City, commanding the 5,000 troops of Dahucheng and Yibocheng. This was a compensation for his failure to be promoted. His task was also very arduous, responsible for comprehensively intercepting materials leading to the Uighurs.

A school captain immediately stepped forward and said, "Report to the general, the scout found a caravan heading to the Uighurs this morning. General Shi led his army to intercept it."

"So that's it." Wang Siyu nodded and walked quickly to the top of the mountain along the stone steps.

Just as Wang Siyu arrived at Dahu City for inspection, Shi Yang, the commander of the capital, led a thousand cavalry to gallop south. The large dark pine forest had been left behind, and there was a vast yellow sand in front of him, with an endless desert.

Early this morning, Shi Yang received a report from a scout team that he found a Sogdian caravan with a thousand camels and more than 300 people, all with weapons. The warning was invalid and they insisted on traveling eastward.

Shi Yang immediately led a thousand cavalry to detour and intercept them. At the speed of the camels, he should have surrounded them in front of them. He stood on a sand dune and looked westward. Several scouts had already gone to investigate separately.

At this time, a small black dot ran quickly from the west and slowly approached the team. It was a scout of the Tang army. He rushed to Shi Yang like a whirlwind and said with a fist: "General Qi, his subordinates have discovered the whereabouts of the caravan, just twenty miles west."

"I know, go and explore again." Shi Yang waved his hand and rushed out first. The brigade of cavalry rushed down the sand dunes and rushed towards the west like lightning. After about ten miles, everyone had already seen a black line in the distance, heading towards this side. They obviously found the intercepting Tang army and began to turn around and run south.

Shi Yang immediately ordered coldly: "If you intercept them, those who dare to resist will be killed without any reservation!" The Tang army immediately soared into the air, with a long spear across the saddle, a bow and arrow tilted its strings, and surrounded the caravan in a fan shape.

This caravan came from Bukhara and had been doing business with the Uighurs for many years. The leader was one of the three most famous Sogdian merchants in the Uighurs. He monopolized the Uighurs' pig iron and cloth trade. This time, because the Uighurs needed to prepare for war, he specially ordered his caravan to transport 200,000 kilograms of pig iron and some cloth from Bukhara to Hanerduobali. In order to prevent the Tang army from intercepting them, they walked into the sparsely populated areas of the northern route, but unexpectedly they were discovered by the Tang army in Yibohai.

The manager responsible for escorting the goods discovered the Tang army brigade. They were immediately panicked and tried to escape into the depths of the desert to hide, but their camels were far inferior to the speed of the Tang army's war horses. In less than half an hour, the caravan was firmly surrounded by the Tang army.

"Kill!" Shi Yang issued a massacre order. In order to strictly implement the embargo task, Shi Yang believed that only by using the massacres again and again to eliminate these merchants who did not listen to the warnings, he believed that this was the most effective method.

The Tang army did not ask any questions and rushed up with a long spear. When the caravan saw that the Tang army began to take action, some were so scared that they fell down and knelt down to beg for mercy, while others pulled out their knives to fight against the Tang army, but they were far from being the opponent of the Tang army. In a moment, nearly a hundred followers who were ready to resist were killed by the Tang army. The other Sogdians knelt down and begged for mercy. The Tang army did not bury the bodies, and returned to Dahu City with the camel and the Sogdians begging for mercy.

As soon as he returned to the camp of Dahucheng, soldiers immediately came to report that the general was coming. Shi Yang immediately turned around and said to a lieutenant: "Take all these people to the construction site and send supplies to the dock warehouse."

After giving the order, Shi Yang hurried to the construction site of Dahucheng. From a distance, he saw Wang Siyu checking the city construction situation accompanied by several troops. Shi Yang ran to Wang Siyu, turned over and dismounted, and went forward and half-kneeled to salute and said, "Shi Yang, the military envoy of Dahucheng City, met the commander of the Great Commander."

Wang Siyu waved his hand and asked with a smile: "How about it? Go out and kill the Uighur caravan, what are you getting?"

"Report to the commander, his subordinates intercepted a large caravan and seized 200,000 kilograms of iron and a large amount of cotton."

‘Twenty-hundred thousand kilograms of iron!’ Wang Siyu was also secretly surprised. How many weapons can this 200,000 kilograms of iron be built? What does this mean? Do the Uighurs prepare for war?

"You did a good job." Wang Siyu praised: "This time I personally sent you 30,000 stones of grain and fifty stone cannons, as well as thunder bullets, bows and arrows, tents, military weapons, armor and other items. If possible, I hope you will enter the castle before the end of October. If there are any difficulties, you can report to me at any time."

"Thank you for your care, you don't have to wait until October. According to the current progress, Dahu City will be completed in mid-September." Speaking of this, Shi Yang hesitated and said, "But his subordinates do have a request."

"If you have any requirements, just say it."

"Now we only have twenty whistle ships here, which are usually used to communicate with Yibo City on the other side. I wonder if the Grand Marshal can leave us a hundred large ships this time."

Wang Siyu pondered for a moment. The 200,000 kilograms of iron were robbed by the Tang army. How could the Uighurs give up? They would definitely raise their troops to pull out the nail in Dahucheng. It is indeed beneficial to leave a hundred ships. Furthermore, the 200,000 kilograms of iron can be transported back with the remaining two hundred ships. He nodded and agreed readily: "Okay! I promise you, I will leave you a hundred ships."

The flags were waving and the horns were heard on the grassland. Han Erduo Bali seemed to usher in the most grand festival of the year. Uighur Khan Jiegangas personally led more than 300 Uighur powerful people to leave the city fifty miles to welcome the arrival of the Great Food Vezier Yehaya. Jiegangas also knew Yehaya's status in the Great Food, which was even more exciting than the Caliph's close visit.

After only a few months ascended the Khan throne, Yehaya came to visit Dashi in person, which was enough to show that Dashi valued the Uighurs. Not only Jiegangas, but more than a dozen Sogdian merchants, and the Manichaeist national teacher Surman also came to welcome the arrival of the distinguished guests.

Since Jiegangas poisoned the loyal Khan to the throne, there has been no situation of surrender as Surman said. On the contrary, the pro-Tang sect cannot accept the claim that the Tang princess poisoned him. The Tang princess had no chance to approach the loyal Khan at all. As for poisoning in the wine pot, anyone can do it. What is more suspicious is the advance mobilization of the army. This is obviously a conspiracy carefully planned in advance. The biggest suspect is Jiegangas who ascended the Khan's position. Only he has the ability to mobilize the army, and he is also the biggest beneficiary!

If Jiegangas could change the national policy of loyal Khan's swaying left and right after he came to power, and turned to the Tang Dynasty and continued to marry the princess of the Tang Dynasty as Kedun, perhaps the pro-Tang faction would also acknowledge this fact. However, after becoming the throne, Jiegangas changed the national policy of the Uighurs and began to fully invest in the Dashi, which made the pro-Tang faction completely despaired by him. Hundreds of thousands of people left, and the Eastern Uighurs established in Kedun City in the east, officially broke with Jiegangas, causing the already sparse Uighurs to suffer major setbacks in the past century.

After May, hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the Tang Dynasty were sent to the Tang Dynasty's border, and a complete ban on the transport of strategic materials such as grain, salt, sugar, pig iron, copper, and tincture oil were not allowed to transport the Uighurs in the north, and even tea was not allowed to transport the Uighurs in the north. Those who violated the ban would be killed by the whole family. Only one trading point in Jiuyuan was opened, and only luxury goods such as porcelain and silk were allowed to trade with the Uighurs.

The serious deterioration of relations with the Tang Dynasty was the inevitable consequence of a series of policies after Jiegangas came to power, which was also expected by Jiegangas' group, but they were not worried that even if the Tang Dynasty had a full trade embargo, the Uighurs could still obtain all the materials they needed from the West. Ye Haya's arrival fully demonstrated this.

Two hours later, the Three Thousand Great Food Army guarded Ye Haya's carriage appeared at the end of the grassland. Ye Haya set out from Baghdad in late May and arrived at Hanerduobali after more than a month of trekking. It was not his main itinerary for him to visit the Tang Dynasty. This time he came mainly to visit the Tang Dynasty and negotiated with the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty about the issue of shattering Ye prisoners of war. Hanerduobali was just a visit on the way to win over this great orbital nomadic country that took the initiative to join the Great Food.

Ye Haya's strong opinion on using the Uighurs to suppress the Tang Dynasty has always been Ye Haya's strong opinion. It was Ye Haya's idea to order Surman to kill the Uighur Khan and support the new Khan who was close to the food. This time, he reached the plan as he wished, which really made him very pleased. Before leaving, Ye Haya even persuaded Rashid to enthrone Jiegangas as the Great Khan of the East, and rewarded him with ten thousand taels of gold and hundreds of beauties to win Jiegangas' heart.

As the Yehaya carriage gradually approached, Jiegangas put down his airs as a king of his country and came to the Yehaya carriage to meet the most powerful and powerful person in the Great Food.

"The Uighur Khan Jiegangas met His Highness Vizier, the Abbas Empire. His Highness worked hard all the way."

The car door opened, and Yehaya walked out of the carriage with the support of two guards. He smiled and greeted Jiegangas, saying, "Khan comes to greet him in person. Yehaya cannot afford to take care of him. This time, I was entrusted by His Majesty the Caliph, and I came to formally form an alliance with the Uighurs, and praised the Khan for his courage to be kind to the Great Food."

After saying that, he waved his hand, several guards raised two heavy boxes. He ordered people to open it. The boxes were suddenly shining with golden light, all of which were ingots of gold nuggets. Ye Haya asked someone to catch up with dozens of carriages and opened the curtains. The carriages were all charming and charming Western beauties. He pointed to the gold nuggets and smiled and said, "These ten thousand taels of gold and one hundred beauties are gifts from His Majesty the Caliph to Khan. Although these gifts are nothing in the eyes of Khan, they are the caliph's wishes. Please accept them."

Jiegangas didn't care much about gold. The one hundred tall, white and greasy white women with blond hair and blue eyes made Jiegangas excited. He was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly, and ordered people to send gold and beauty back to the palace directly.

Ye Haya's eyes were sharp. He took every subtle expression of Jiegangas into his eyes. When he saw gold, he just smiled, but when he saw a hundred beauties, his eyes lit up and he couldn't help swallowing his saliva. He knew that this Uighur Khan was a lustful person. Is it not easy to like women? The Abbasi Empire had beautiful women, and he could even persuade Rashid to marry the moon of Baghdad: Abasai to him and firmly control the Uighur in the hands of the empire.

Thinking of this, Ye Haya smiled slightly and took out a roll of sheepskin edict and said, "This time I came to Uighurs, and I was entrusted by the Caliph to formally enthrone the Khan as the Eastern Khan. This is different from the Tang Dynasty's canonization of honor and inferiority. This is the respect of our Abbas Empire for the Uighur brothers. I hope the Khan can accept this title."

Of course, Jiegangas knew that this was just to put it nicely. Accepting the title was actually acknowledging the subordinate relationship between the two countries, and it was no different from the essence of the enthronement of the Tang Dynasty. However, Jiegangas also knew that he had no choice. The Uighurs were sparsely populated and weak in power, and urgently needed full support from Dashi. He knelt down slowly, respectfully received the sheepskin edict, and whispered loudly: "Jiegangas is willing to accept the enthronement of His Majesty the Caliph."

"Shank you, please get up quickly." Ye Haya quickly helped him up. The two of them looked at each other and laughed loudly. Jie Gangas pointed to the big tent in the distance and invited enthusiastically: "I have prepared a mountain of meat and wine, and I hope to stop drunk with Vizier Hall."

"Okay! We won't get drunk today."

The huge white tent was filled with rich wine feasts. Each small table was filled with fragrant roasted lamb. The wine pot was filled with horse milk wine. The yellow golden plate was filled with green grapes and various fruits. Yehaya sat in the middle with Jiegangas as a noble identity. Next to Yehaya was the Uighur national master Surman, and below were Jiang Muhadagan, the great Sogdian merchants and Yehu of the various tribes of the Uighurs. Beside Jiegangas sat Husseer, the Syrian governor who accompanied Yehaya to visit, and some important food accompanying personnel.

Yehaya was obviously very satisfied with Surman completing the task this time. He frequently toasted Surman, his eyes full of praise. Surman was flattered. He remembered the Caliph's promise to be appointed as the governor of Bukhara and allowed their family to obtain a large amount of land in Bukhara. This means that their family can finally take the first step of independence and founding a country. Once the Abbasid Empire weakens a hundred years later, the Surman dynasty will become a reality.

Although he longed for Ye Haya to speak out this decision loudly, Surman also knew that he must not let Jie Gangas suspicion at this time. Seeing Ye Haya paying too much attention to him, he coughed dryly and said, "His Highness Vizier, now the Tang Dynasty has fully implemented a trade blockade on our Uighurs. The Uighurs are in poverty and do not know the Abbas Empire..."

Surman's words attracted everyone's attention. The Uighurs were nomadic and founded the country, and the agriculture and handicrafts were extremely backward. For more than a hundred years, the Uighurs have been relying on the Tang Dynasty to provide extremely cheap food, pig iron, tea and other materials almost free of charge. Although Sogdian merchants could also transport a lot of materials from the West, it was not free of charge. It was because the Uighurs needed to exchange cattle and sheep for high prices. Especially many Uighur nobles, the free lunch in the Tang Dynasty suddenly disappeared, which really made them very uncomfortable. They looked forward to Ye Haya, hoping that the Dashi could be as generous as the Tang Dynasty.
Chapter completed!